The Pitfalls of Wiping the Yellow Card Slate Clean

[imp]

Generally a poor game tonight - maybe not technically for those who love to analyze details, but as a spectacle there was little to entertain thanks to a shocking paucity of clear-cut chances. And I think that was largely down to the rule allowing yellow cards to be wiped after the quarter-finals. It was a very physical contest, with heaps of tactical fouls, and it was clear that both teams had been instructed to do this - after all, if there's no prospect of suspension for getting a yellow card, then why not use that as part of your tactical armory. How many yellow cards were there tonight? Eleven?

So a cynical but inevitable consequence of a rule that's meant to be a compassionate sop to all those observers who moan about what a shame that so and so will miss the biggest match of his career. It's bollocks. If you don't want to be suspended, don't commit the fouls. After all, why have 23 players in a squad? It tests a squad's depth and versatility when they have to reach to the bench and make adjustments. This rule is just another way to protect the commercial interests of the tournament by ensuring big name players don't miss the biggest game.

[The Awesome Berbaslug!!!]

The Pitfalls of Wiping the Yellow Card Slate Clean

yeah I'm only surprised there wasn't 28 bookings.

[David Agnew]

The Pitfalls of Wiping the Yellow Card Slate Clean

Ramos, Arbeloa and Alonso would all be suspended if yellow cards weren't wiped out. Coentrao, Pereira and Veloso would have been suspended if they'd made it.

Personally I don't like the 2 yellows = suspension anyway, because some referees are more lenient than others, so some suspensions are undeserved, and other players who deserve two bookings don't always get them.

And that's before we get to the group stage injustice, where a player commits two bookable offences in their first two games, then miss the last game against the side they didn't commit an offence against, thus giving the third side an advantage they haven't earned.

[Andy C]

The Pitfalls of Wiping the Yellow Card Slate Clean

But that's true of any sort of suspension.

[Seven Saxon Kings]

The Pitfalls of Wiping the Yellow Card Slate Clean

Yellows are awarded so easily these days that getting two in five games hardly makes you a dirty player, such that it warrants missing the biggest moment of your career. As a fan, I want to see the final contested by the two best teams, and saying 'don't foul' is easier said than done when you're trying to defend against some of the best players in the world.

[Hofzinser]

The Pitfalls of Wiping the Yellow Card Slate Clean

It's true that there are pitfalls of wiping the slate clean at the semi-final stage, but it's also true that there are pitfalls if you don't - as with most things, it's a weighing up of costs and benefits.

Personally, I think I prefer the situation where a Laurent Blanc, for instance, can't be (or is less likely to be) cheated out of a final place by unscrupulous opponents, even if it means that players are more likely to play in such a way as to make bookings likely.

After all, deliberately adopting an overly physical approach carries its own risks in any case - what you intend to be a yellow card offence can quite easily end up being deemed a red card by the ref.

[Janik]

The Pitfalls of Wiping the Yellow Card Slate Clean

Hofzinser wrote: Personally, I think I prefer the situation where a Laurent Blanc, for instance, can't be (or is less likely to be) cheated out of a final place by unscrupulous opponents, even if it means that players are more likely to play in such a way as to make bookings likely.

I don't see how this tournaments rules would have made that Blanc-Bilic incident less likely. In fact, they would have made it more so. Blanc was sent-off, so he would still have been suspended under the current rules. However, if the officials had properly understood what happened in '98, Bilic would have been booked. But as bookings don't matter in a semi under this system, risking a booking to try and get an opponent sent-off makes game theory sense.

[Janik]

The Pitfalls of Wiping the Yellow Card Slate Clean

double post

[Hofzinser]

The Pitfalls of Wiping the Yellow Card Slate Clean

Okay, so I chose a bad example for several reasons. But the principle I'm concerned with is that a player can't end up missing the final because he unluckily picks up a soft booking for a good tackle, or because another player dived to win a free kick, or anything like that.

I'm glad that that can no longer happen, and think that over all the benefits of wiping the slate clean after the quarter finals outweigh the disadvantages.

[jason voorhees]

The Pitfalls of Wiping the Yellow Card Slate Clean

I hate the 2 yellow suspensions anyway.

So it turned into a Portuguese League game, who cares.

[Andy C]

The Pitfalls of Wiping the Yellow Card Slate Clean

the situation where a Laurent Blanc, for instance, can't be (or is less likely to be) cheated out of a final place by unscrupulous opponents,

This is a bit of a myth. Blanc committed a foul that deserved the punishment. Bilic exaggerated the effect - his shirt had been almost pulled off him and he got a bit of a tap on his chin but it wasn't the ox-felling blow to the head that Bilic mimed, and Bilic should also have been called on it - nevertheless Blanc's action merited the ref's decision against him.

[jason voorhees]

The Pitfalls of Wiping the Yellow Card Slate Clean

I'm still pissed at Nedved getting a yellow for a tackle and thus rendering the 2003 Champions League Final as the worst final of all-time.

Give me the stars.

[Dalef65]

The Pitfalls of Wiping the Yellow Card Slate Clean

In a World cup it takes 6 games to reach the final.Half of those games could involve extra time.
3 games of 90 minutes,3 games of (potentially)120 minutes.. if a player gets 2 silly yellows he misses the Final......

I never thought that situation was justifiable to be honest...
Its relies a bit too much on the whims of (sometimes)sub standard officials..
For example,what exactly did that Greek player do in the first game to get 2 yellows and then get sent off..

[jason voorhees]

The Pitfalls of Wiping the Yellow Card Slate Clean

About Portugal-Spain, it was also a match between friends. Sure, Sergio Ramos clipped Ronaldo, but he immediately reached down and caressed his head and knew that his Portuguese coach would be watching what he just did to the team's top scoring Portuguese #10.

The bottom line is both teams wanted to play the way they played a few days ago. There is something beautiful about that to me.

[imp]

The Pitfalls of Wiping the Yellow Card Slate Clean

In the same way, I suppose, that on a certain day, a certain eye might see a certain beauty in the way a fly lands on a lump of turd.

[jason voorhees]

The Pitfalls of Wiping the Yellow Card Slate Clean

HAHAHAHA

Bushido...code of the Samurai..Ghost Dog...c'mon now

[Harbinger of Hope]

The Pitfalls of Wiping the Yellow Card Slate Clean

For me, I think the rule should be:
If a player is given a yellow card in successive games, he misses the next match.

This will wipe out the stupidity of getting a booking in the the first or second group game and the quater-final, meaning you miss the semi-final.

If you are going to wipe the slate, it'd make more sense at the end of the group stage.

[Satchmo Distel]

The Pitfalls of Wiping the Yellow Card Slate Clean

The old system was awful. I recall Matthaeus having a mare against England in the 1990 semi because he was on a yellow. If it changes how a player plays his natural game (which is not inherently dirty), it's wrong.

Another problem is with the yellow card system itself, which treats a cynical foul as no worse than taking off your shirt to celebrate a goal.